Without a Trace
by thunderbolt-sunshine
Summary: Danny, Chin and Kono are horrified when they get to work one morning and find out that, not only has Steve resigned, he's vanished without a trace. They're afraid that he's run off again to try and catch Wo Fat. The truth is so much worse than that.
1. Chapter 1

"What?" Danny asked in shock. "Can you repeat that, sir?"

"McGarrett has, apparently, quit," Governor Denning duly repeated. "I found his resignation on my inbox when I checked my email this morning."

"Jesus," Danny hissed, beckoning for Chin and Kono, quickly and quietly letting them know what was going on before switching the phone to speaker. This was the last thing they needed right now. It had been a nightmare month for the 5-0 team, nightmare case after nightmare case and Danny was tired. He honestly didn't know whether he had the energy to save Steve from whatever half-cocked plan he'd concocted this time to catch Wo Fat. "Sir, you're on speaker with Lieutenant Kelly and Officer Kalakalua."

"Is an email the only contact you've had with Steve?" Chin asked in his usual, quiet manner. "You haven't spoken to him?"

"He hasn't returned any of my phone calls," the Governor replied. "So I'd like you three to try and track him down. Find out what's going on. Resigning is, of course, entirely his prerogative if he so wishes but doing it via email isn't exactly protocol so until I have a hard copy, delivered in person I will still consider him employed. Lieutenant Kelly, you rank makes you acting head of 5-0 in Commander McGarrett's absence."

"Yes sir," Chin said, having picked up on Denning's unstated request to find out whether there was something amiss with Steve's sudden resignation. "We'll let you know as soon as we have more information."

"See that you do," Denning said, ending the call.

"Jesus, why does he always do this?" Danny burst out as the trio gathered around the smart table. He seemed to have taken it as a given Steve had resigned to go after Wo Fat. _Again. _

"Jack was his father but he was my friend, too," Chin said. "Steve should know I want to help catch his killer."

"Steve's been alone for a really long time, remember," Kono pointed out. "I don't think he's used to having people in his life who will help him out. He's also terrified that someone else is going to get hurt or worse because of him. That being said we need to find him and bring him home so we can kick his ass for doing this to us _again._"

"His cell's switched on and at his home address," Chin said, typing a few things into the smart table.

"But of course he's not answering," Danny said, dialling his partner's number and getting the answer phone. "Yo McGarrett, call me!"

"He's not answering his home phone, either," Kono said, trying that number. "Steve, please let us know you're okay!"

"Well it doesn't look like he's home but let's head to his place anyway," Chin decided. "Maybe he's left something behind that will give us some sort of indication what he's thinking and where he's heading."

They headed for Danny's Camaro. The irony wasn't lost on the detective that practically the only time he ever got to drive his own car was when his partner went missing. "Has it occurred to anyone that Steve could be about to do something _really _stupid?" he said, bringing up something that had been in the back of his mind ever since he'd heard the Governor's announcement. "I mean Steve's pulled some pretty crazy stunts since he took this job. What the hell's he planning that he feels he needs to quit for?"

That sort didn't sit well with Chin or Kono and they wordlessly encouraged Danny to drive faster. Within 15 minutes the detective pulled the car into Steve's driveway. By now a potent combination of anger and worry was coursing through Danny which left him extremely frustrated. He would have loved to vent his feelings by kicking Steve's door in but he was smart enough to realise that having the Head of 5-0 missing was bad enough. They didn't need his house unsecured as well, which would surely attract a whole bunch of crazies.

Instead he used the key which he'd forced Steve to give him after the incident where Mary had been kidnapped and Steve tasered. He pushed open the door. "Yo, super SEAL?" he yelled, not really expecting any reply, especially when he saw the burglar alarm was still armed.

He didn't get one. He disabled the alarm and he, Chin and Kono spread out. "Hey guys!" Kono called a minute later.

"His truck's still in the garage and the Marquis is out the back," Chin said, coming to see what Kono had found.

It was Steve's 5-0 badge and service weapon. They'd been left lying in the middle of the kitchen table, accompanied by a note written in Steve's own hand which simply read: _I'm sorry. _

"He must have known we'd come looking for him," Kono said quietly.

"He's sorry!" Danny seethed, his anger now beginning to overpower his worry. "He's sorry! Well that's just great. That makes everything okay then, doesn't it! While he's busy being sorry what the hell are we supposed to do in the mean time? Just sit around waiting for news? I mean, he was tortured last time he did this! What's next?"

"We'll find him, Danny," Chin said soothingly, even though he was just was worried as Danny. "And when we do we'll bring him home and make it clear that he can't keep doing this."

"I mean he has to realise by now that he has people who care about him," Kono said.

Chin sighed. "I think he does but that doesn't mean much while Wo Fat's still out there. He feels like it's his responsibility and duty to catch him and won't be able to really focus on anything else until he does."

"I'll give him focus," Danny huffed indignantly. "Anyway, let's just check the rest of the house."

They did so but the only thing of note they found was that Steve's gun safe was wide open and completely empty. Usually that would be cause for concern but the note on the table seemed to indicate Steve had left on his own accord. "There's nothing left to see here," Chin finally decided. "Let's head back to the office and see if we can track his credit cards."

"Do you think we should see if Mary's heard from him?" Kono suggested.

"No," Chin finally decided. "Steve sent her to live in LA specifically so she wouldn't be involved in all the Wo Fat business. He would never willingly involve her in the plans he comes up with."

"And if we call her he'll just be pissed when we do get him back," Danny pointed out.

Back at the office they quickly discovered that there was absolutely nothing new they could tell the Governor. Steve hadn't used his credit cards in a couple of days and the only incoming and outgoing calls on his phone records were all to or from them, the Governor and Max. Unless Steve had another cell phone, which the searches they ran didn't seem to indicate he did, their friend and boss lived a very quiet, solitary life outside of work and there was absolutely no sign of where he might have gone.

All three of them were worried but none more so than Danny who was the only one of them who had any real idea how many weapons Steve had had in his safe. The thought of the highly trained SEAL running around somewhere, heavily armed and very dangerous with revenge on his mind, did not fill the detective with joy. Steve had an unfortunate knack for getting into trouble and seeing as he hadn't left any clues as to his whereabouts he wouldn't have anyone but himself to depend on to get him out of it.

Danny had a horrible feeling that something really bad was about to happen. Unfortunately the only thing he could do was pray that Steve knew what he was doing because Danny sure as hell didn't.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve may not be at home but he actually wasn't too far away. Like any good SEAL he had a safe house et up and various stashes of cash and fake passports in case it ever wasn't safe enough for him to go home or he had to make a run for it. While Danny, Chin and Kono were searching his home it was his safe house that he was holed up at. With him were Chris Donnelly, William Richards, Greg Parker and Nate Davidson, close friends and fellow SEALs who he'd served with many times over the years. The five men were brothers in every way that counted. They'd supported each other through the best and worst of times and they _always _had each other's backs.

Steve had called the guys for backup as soon as he'd realised he wasn't going to be able to trust Danny, Chin and Kono with this one. His 5-0 team would never let him do this. They would be appalled that he was even considering it. His SEAL team on the other hand would understand. After spending so much time in a war zone they all understood the concepts of 'the greater good' and 'acceptable losses.' They would understand that his life meant nothing in comparison to Catherine's and their unborn son's.

At least that's what Steve had thought. Unfortunately he'd been wrong. His friends were all scowling at a compound, deep in the jungle, that Greg, their computer expert, had managed to track via satellite. "Are you out of your god dammed mind?" Chris seethed at him. "What are you going to do? Walk in there and let this Wo Fat guy put a bullet in your brain?"

"Yes, if that's what it takes to make sure Catherine and the baby survive!" Steve said exasperatedly.

He would never forget the chilling phone call he'd received almost 24 hours ago. In the background he'd been able to hear Catherine sobbing. She was a strong woman so for her to break down like that Steve had known immediately that something terrible had happened. Then a cold voice, which Steve had recognised immediately, had said that Catherine and the baby would live if he was prepared to die. Steve's blood had immediately run cold. He'd done everything he could to protect them but somehow Wo Fat had still managed to get hold of his family.

He hadn't been sure what to think when Catherine had settled permanently in Hawaii six months earlier, pregnant with his child. Catherine was a phenomenal woman and he never wanted to be without her but he hadn't known what to make of the thought of being a father. He knew the truth now and understood why Jack McGarrett had done what he had but the strained relationship with his own father which had never been resolved still haunted Steve and he hadn't known whether he had it within him to be everything that Catherine and the baby needed.

His doubts had continued right up until a couple of weeks ago when, for the first time, the baby had been in the correct position and they could see him properly on the ultrasound. That was also when he and Catherine had discovered they were having a boy.

'_A son,' _Steve had thought in shock. Perhaps having a son of his own would help him reconcile some of the gaps in his relationship with his own father, even nearly two years after Jack McGarrett's murder.

Since then Steve's confidence in himself had risen and his doubts had faded. He'd actually begun to really look forward to the arrival of the baby who he and Catherine had decided to call Henry John McGarrett. There was nothing that Steve wouldn't do for Catherine and Henry so that was why when Wo Fat asked him to exchange his life for theirs it was a no-brainer. Steve was sorry that he wouldn't be around to see his son grow up and that he wouldn't even get to meet Henry but if he had to die so his son and his mother could live then so be it.

He'd known right away that he couldn't let his 5-0 team find out about this because they'd do everything in their power to stop him handing himself over to Wo Fat. They didn't even know about Catherine, let alone Henry, so they wouldn't understand why he was so determined to do this. He'd sent his resignation to the Governor hoping that if he seemed to be severing ties with them Danny, Chin and Kono wouldn't grieve as much when he was gone. He was also fairly certain that even if, by some miracle, he lived through the next few days he wouldn't be allowed to come back to 5-0 anyway so he figured that sending in his resignation was the pertinent thing to do.

Then, after leaving behind his phone, credit cards and anything else the trio could have used to track him, he'd hightailed it to the safe house where he'd contacted Chris and the others. He had no expectations that they would try and talk him out of it but he needed them to make sure Catherine got out safely after he exchanged himself for her. Unfortunately his team had other ideas. Frustrated, Steve tried to explain why he had to do this, painfully aware that every second he wasted was a second that who knows what was happening to Catherine and Henry.

"You really are out of your mind if you think we're just going to let you do this," Will said.

"I have to!" Steve practically shouted. Why couldn't they understand that if Catherine and their son died he would have no reason to live anyway? He didn't _want _to die but he wouldn't want to live either if his partner and son died.

Nate looked at him sympathetically. "Man, be reasonable. Do you honestly think that this guy's just gonna let Catherine go even if you do hand yourself over? He's practically a terrorist, for god's sake!"

"He'll probably wait until he's got you and then kill her in front of you just to torture you," Greg said bluntly.

"And if I don't do this he's going to kill her anyway!" Steve insisted despairingly, even though the possibility of what Greg said had already been festering in his mind for quite a while. He could feel himself slowly giving in to his rising panic. It went against every aspect of his SEAL training but it had never been his own family on the line before. "You can't ask me to stand by and let that happen!"

"We're not!" Chris said. "If there's no other option we won't stop you going in there and we will protect Catherine and the baby for you but only after we've exhausted every other possibility. Please. Let us try our way first!"

"Steve, three years ago you helped me save my family," Will said. "Let me help you save yours now!"

Steve remembered three years ago when one of the terrorists they'd been tracking for Naval Intelligence had kidnapped Tracy and Caitlyn Richards, Will's wife and newborn daughter. Tracy and the baby had been missing for over a week but in the end the team had managed to find them, scared, cold and a little bruised but basically okay. Tracy and Caitlyn had come through the experience just fine and Will and Tracy had just celebrated the birth of their second daughter, Samantha. It had been a happy outcome in that situation. Could the same happen for his family? It did seem that the guys already had a plan and for years he'd trusted them with his life. Surely he could trust them with his family's lives as well. Maybe they could pull this off for him and if they couldn't…..well, he hopefully would still have time to go with the original plan.

He nodded sharply in Will's direction. "Fine," he said. "Tell me your plan."

Relief washed over Chris' face. Their close-knit team had crumbled in the wake of Andrew Clarkson's death four years ago and Nick Taylor's betrayal last year. It wouldn't have survived if Steve had gone through with his plan.

"Thank you," he said, his relief evident in his voice. "Here's what we're going to do."


	3. Chapter 3

Steve wasn't overly happy about it but he agreed to return to civilisation with his team. Wo Fat had given him a week to turn himself in so Chris and the others argued that while they all wanted Catherine back as soon as possible they needed to use all the time they had to do this right. While Greg went to speak to their superiors at the Navy base Will and Nate ventured into the jungle to set up surveillance on Wo Fat's compound and Chris accompanied Steve to 5-0 headquarters. Danny pounced as soon as they walked in. "Where the hell have you been?"

Fighting to remain calm and not wanting to let his fear show Steve just went and shut himself in what he hoped was still his office. Danny tried to follow but Chris blocked the way. "Back off!" the SEAL growled.

"And just who are you?" Danny demanded, put off by a stranger telling him what to do.

"Lieutenant Christopher Donnelly, Navy SEAL," Chris said. "Daniel Williams, Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakalua, right? Please leave Steve alone for the moment. He really doesn't need your shit right now."

"What's he done this time?" Danny sighed. "He went after Wo Fat again, I assume?"

"He had a good reason this time," Chris defended. "Do not give him shit."

"Why did he feel like he couldn't tell us what's going on?" Kono asked.

"Wo Fat kidnapped Catherine," Chris sighed. "He told Steve that he'd let her go if he turned himself in." The SEAL got nothing but blank looks from the three members of 5-0. "You know, Catherine? Steve's very pregnant girlfriend?"

"Oh god," Chin said grimly, running a weary hand over his face.

"Steve's going to be a daddy?" Kono asked.

Chris nodded. "Presuming we get to Catherine in time. It's been nearly 24 hours since she was taken. Wo Fat gave Steve a week. We tracked down the place where she's being held. Two members of our team are running surveillance now. The other member of the team's gone to the base to try and get a joint operation between 5-0 and the SEALs authorised so we can work together on this. We figure that Wo Fat will expect one group or the other to come after him. He won't be expecting both."

"And the operation has been authorised," Governor Denning said, sweeping into the room. "A Lieutenant Parker is on the way to connect 5-0 to the Navy's servers. We're pooling all our resources on this. Lieutenant Kelly, finding Commander McGarrett's family is 5-0's only priority."

"Yes sir," Chin said, as though Denning's opinion actually mattered. He, Danny and Kono would have helped with the search regardless of whether or not they got proper clearance to be involved.

"How is Commander McGarrett?" Denning asked, looking at the closed office door.

"Not great," Chris sighed. "The waiting around is killing him."

"He wants to hand himself over to Wo Fat, doesn't he?" Danny asked, knowing he would be the same way if it were Gracie missing.

Chris nodded. "He was ready to do it first thing this morning but we managed to talk him into waiting five days. If we aren't close to getting Cath back by then, though there won't be any stopping him."

"He's got to know that Wo Fat isn't likely to let Catherine go, right?" Chin said.

"Do you think that matters to him?" Chris asked bleakly.

"So what you're saying is that we have to save them both or loose them both," Kono said.

Chris nodded. "That's the way it looks."

"So five days then," Kono said, looking at the three men.

"Five days," they echoed.

Greg swept into the office, on the phone with Nate. "That's brilliant, man!" He covered the phone and relayed the news to Chris. "They've got eyes in the compound and can see Cath. They've got proof of life."

"Thank god!" Kono breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't get too excited yet," Greg said. "She's got one guard in the room with her at all times and two more right outside her door. There's a state of the art camera surveillance system, motion detectors all over the place and half a dozen more guards stationed around the compound. There's some sort of explosive device in the entranceway, rigged to a remote control detonator and, to make matters worse, it looks like there's at least one more prisoner in addition to Cath who's being held at the compound."

"So what's the plan?" someone asked grimly.

They all turned around and saw that Steve, much more composed now, had emerged from his office. They didn't know exactly how long he'd been standing there but it had at least been long enough to overhear Greg's summary of the obstacles they'd have to get through to get to Catherine. "Steve!" Kono exclaimed, rushing to give him a hug. "It's going to be okay."

"Yeah," Steve said, detaching himself from her, basically ignoring her. As much as he was trying to stay positive he was painfully aware that situations like this didn't turn out well just as often as they had a happy ending. "I repeat, what's the plan?"

Chris could see that Steve was only just holding it together. "We've got proof of life, man," he said, trying to reassure his friend. "Nate said it doesn't look like they've hurt her. She's safe for now."

"For now," Steve echoed darkly. "Funnily enough that doesn't help. Now come on. I need to do something before I go mad."

* * *

Trapped inside Wo Fat's compound Catherine was doing her best to stay calm and composed in front of the guard that was stationed in the room with her but internally she was terrified. This was by no means the first time she'd been held hostage but it was by far the worst. She wasn't scared for herself but she was terrified for Henry and especially for Steve.

Ever since he'd overheard Wo Fat's ultimatum to Steve her fear had only increased. She knew that Wo Fat wasn't going to let her go willingly and she was sure that deep down Steve knew it too but whether or not he'd accept that was the question. Catherine knew that she wouldn't want to stay alive if Steve and Henry were gone and she was sure that would be weighing heavily on Steve's mind when he decided whether or not to turn himself in.

Catherine knew that the only way she was going to be getting out of here was if Steve raided the compound and rescued her. She just hoped that Steve would turn to his fellow SEALs for help and they would convince him to make the right decision.

She knew her chances of getting out of here weren't great but Catherine couldn't allow herself to give up because giving up would mean giving up on her son and Henry deserved so much better than that.

One way or another, though Catherine knew that Steve would be here soon. She leaned back in her armchair as much as her heavily pregnant body would allow and rubbed her belly as she felt Henry kick.

'_Hang on, baby," _she mentally said to her son. _'Daddy's coming." _


End file.
